A Matter of Sense
by jfqzx
Summary: Msn challenge 2: Flowers. Sometimes we need that someone to bring meaning into back into our reality. Yukimura x Ann


MSN Challenge 2 

Anime series: Prince of Tennis

Rating: PG-13 (for the moment)

Pairing: Yukimura/Ann

Theme: Flowers

A/N: Originally supposed to be a one shot but it's going to be in 2 chapters now.

000000000

Yukimura was bored. He had been pretty much confined to his room for a good portion of the day as the nurses went about performing the routine tests on him. Now he had been instructed to rest in bed, the last thing he wanted to do. One look at the four walls that surrounded him, and his head screamed for out.

It had been a week since his teammates had come to see him. Not that he could blame them. They had family and schoolwork to keep up with, not mentioning the ever-anticipated district finals, which loomed round the corner. Rikkaidai versus Seigaku- definitely not an easy fight no matter how confident his team members were. It was just that their visitations were one of the things he clung to, in order to find the smallest fraction of happiness and hope that things were not as bad as they seemed.

He had recently received news from his doctor, something that only his parents knew so far, concerning his operation. While he was a little sad that Sanada and the rest had not come to visit him, he was also partially relieved as it meant that he could spend more time pondering on how to break it to them. Really, how did one break the news to your closest friends that you were to go to an operation that had a success prediction of less than fifty percent? _And I do not want them to be distracted because of me. Rikkai must win._

_I need to get out of here before I go mad. _He mused. He rose from bed and retrieved his nearest coat, which incidentally happened to be his Rikkai jersey. He opened the door a fraction, just enough for him to peek out. A nurse wheeled a trolley down the into another patient's room. Once she had shut the door behind her, Rikkai captain saw his opportunity. Careful not to make a sound, Yukimura slowly closed his door behind him, and then hightailed down the corridor.

000000000

Finally reaching his destination, his escape not detected, Yukimura pushed open the door to the rooftop garden, a whimsical grin on his face. That little act of defiance somehow made him feel more alive, like a child whom had successfully taken treats from a candy store and went to a secret place to enjoy his bounty. Except that the prize in the raven-haired buchou's case was being able to feel the warmth of the sun's rays streaming onto his face. He took a deep breath and sighed contentedly. So the air was not exactly the cleanest around but after spending the past few days cooped up in bed, it was a truly liberating experience.

The rooftop garden was like his peaceful haven away from the happenings in the hospital and he went there whenever he needed to think. Not many people went there. There was another garden that was more popular. This was the smaller and more secluded of the two; the main one was indoors and on the second floor. He had accidentally stumbled upon this one while walking around the hospital one day. You had to take a lift to the top floor and then walk up a flight of stairs that was hidden behind a fire escape door. The garden itself was pretty simple in design. It did not have many plants and had a bench at random spots, but he did not mind. He just needed a place where he could sort out his thoughts without any distractions.

000000000

A while later, Yukimura opened his eyes lazily, staring into the blue sky above him. A school bell chimed in the distant and he decided that he should be heading back. He was rising from his position stretched out on the wooden bench when the door he heard the door creak open. He quickly lay down on the bench, just in case it was a member of the medical staff. No one could know where he was.

Silence ensued and the raven-haired boy allowed himself to peep out from behind his cover. He gave a sigh of relief. It was just a girl, and one who looked to be around his age, perhaps a year or two younger. She wore a school uniform although from his point of view he could not identify the location. School uniforms all looked very similar to each other in Japan and hers was the standard sailor suit outfit girls had to wear. She had caramel brown hair her fringe was neatly clipped up on both sides.

_She looks cute in a simple, understated way. Has that girl next-door kind of vibe._

The girl stood in that spot for a moment, as if deciding where to go. _She looks lost… _he thought._ Should I help her out?_ Then when she turned in his direction, Yukimura quickly ducked from her sight, holding his breath. Then he realized the stupidity of the situation and fought back the urge to laugh at himself. _I'm being so childish, hiding from someone who won't even know I was a missing patient anyway. Why should I be so scared of a schoolgirl?_

Even so, he lay back on the bench a moment longer, trying to ignore the adrenaline rushing into his heart, making it beat wildly. _Oh well, perhaps it's okay if I stayed here a while more… _His eyes hooded as he started to drift back to his ponderings when he heard something that strangely sounded like a muffled sob, followed by another, and it was not long before the sound broke into crying.

Yukimura jumped up from his seat. The sudden movement made him slightly giddy, and he gripped the back of the bench for support, mentally chastising himself. _Don't be in such a jumble Seiichi. You don't want to give the doctor a reason to restrain you to bed now do you? If your little escapade has been found out you'll be in enough hot soup as it is. Must you be such a softy when it comes to crying girls? You don't even know her. What if she thinks you're some mental patient and freaks out? That'd be just brilliant. Not to mention certain teammates of yours would have a field day when they find out should this occur… but then her sobs were so heart wrenching._

When he finally felt like he could walk without falling flat on his face, he turned his attention back towards the girl. She was kneeling on the concrete ground with her back facing him. What intrigued the tennis captain most was the bouquet of flowers that lay on the ground, a few feet away from her. It contained a really pretty bunch of lilies and some violets that spiced up the colour of the otherwise pale bouquet. Yukimura gathered that the bouquet must belong to her since he did not remember seeing it there before.

He picked up the item and held it to her.

" Excuse me, but I believe you dropped something."

000000000

For a moment, the girl looked at the flowers, then at boy standing before her. He had a tall lean frame without looking thin and his face held a gentle smile that would make one feel warm inside. The soft rays of sunlight fell onto his raven hair, creating a soft glow around his head. He looked like some kind of angel.

That is, if angels wore standard issue hospital pajamas and Rikkaidai Ho tennis jackets.

… _Wait minute, Rikkai jersey?_

"You're Yukimura Seiichi aren't you." she stated, her voice a little shaky from the crying.

The boy gave a puzzled look, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to place her " I'm sorry," he smiled sheepishly, "do I know you?"

" Not personally. I'm Tachibana Ann by the way." She said more firmly, accenting the 'Ann', as if she expected him to forget.

He grinned. " Ah, so you must be Tachibana Kippei's sister am I right?"

For a reason unknown to him, she looked annoyed. " Yes, I'm sister but please, just call me Ann."

Yukimura was confused. " Is there something else people call you?"

" No, but often people don't bother to remember my name. But they always associate me with Kippei. So everyone takes the easy way out and calls me Tachibana's sister which is so annoying!"

The Rikkai buchou chuckled. " That's weird. Isn't 'Ann' a lot easier and shorter than Ta-chi-ba-na's-sis-ter?"

"Precisely!" She groaned. " Why can't anyone else see that?"

There was a moment of awkward silence between them till Yukimura spoke.

" So Ann, if you don't mind me asking… What brings you up here? Didn't you come to visit your brother? That's who the flowers are for right? Anne? Are you alright?"

" I'm fine." She said hurriedly, as if hiding something.

Yukimura leaned against the railing of the balcony and said calmly. " The last I remember, fine and crying did not go together. And from what I saw those didn't look like tears of joy either."

Ann blushed and looked away, embarrassed at being found out. " It's nothing really. I guess that I got so wrapped up in my thoughts for nii-san and the team that I lost it."

She continued talking without waiting for a response. " And the previous time I visited nii-san, we didn't really end our time on good terms."

" Eh?"

" I don't want to bore you with it. You have your own things to worry about as it is."

" Don't worry about it." Yukimura smiled reassuringly. " As buchou I have to listen to my player's complaints a lot anyway. I'm used to this kind of thing so you can tell me. I promise I won't tell your brother or anyone else anything about this."

Ann was confused. Did she really want to pour her woes out on someone she barely knew? And to a rival team's captain no less. What would he think of Fudomine then? She did not want him to see their school as weak and self-pitying. Her brother's team had been built on so much pain; the motto being survival of the strongest.

But then Yukimura was being so nice to her. To not tell him would also make her feel bad.

" Fine." She decided. " But remember you asked for it." When the boy gave a nod for her to continue, she began, "You see, on my last visit which as about a week ago, I don't know if you have heard it but some members of Fudomine along with your team had a bit of a stand off."

" What?" Yukimura snapped around suddenly, going into buchou mode by instinct. However, he immediately softened at the sight of Ann cringe and stare at him, no doubt suddenly startled.

" Heh… gomenasai." He apologized, " I was surprised for a moment. I wasn't informed. Please continue."

" Well, that afternoon I was visiting nii-san when Fuji Syuusuke came by."

Though he did not respond, Yukimura raised an eyebrow. Seigaku was involved as well? This was complicated indeed. In his mind he made a mental note to ask Sanada about this the next time he came to visit.

" Well anyways, they wanted to have a private chat and so excused myself on an errand. When I returned and neared the room, I heard noises coming from within, as if an argument was happening. I went in to find, Kamio and Shinji, as well Kirihara and Jackal in the room. Jackal and Shinji were holding Kirihara and Kamio back, as if they were going to attack each other. Kirihara was insulting nii-san and Fuji, who looked like he would attack Kirihara himself. The atmosphere was so tensed! Then Jackal managed to get Kirihara to calm down and they left."

She paused for a breath and continued. " I was really upset. I guess I tried to go after Kirihara and nii-san stopped me. He kind of gave me a lecture that I shouldn't let such trivial things affect me. That violence was childish and wouldn't solve anything. It got me even more worked up and I quarreled with him. I mean Kirihara has hurt nii-san enough and even dares to show his face and taunt us. And nii-san was letting him off the hook! No offense to you Yukimura-kun but that Kirihara is too much! Well, all I can say is that since then, I have been avoiding nii-san since then. I spent this time feeling so petty and foolish, so I to go and apologize today but I chickened out when nearing his door… ran away…. Somehow ending up here… now I feel stupid. Why should I been so worked up over such a dumb matter? I'm usually not so emotional. Yukimura-kun, what should I do?"

Yukimura had spent the last minute trying to take in the information Ann had given him. His mind too, was a rush of feelings. The tennis buchou part of him wanted to march to Rikkai and demand for every detail that had happened. How could his own team members act so uncouthly! Not to mention Fudomine's captain was already hospitalized because of something one of them had done!

_Can they not see that Rikkai's reputation is at stake here? When I go back, he thought, everyone is going to run laps; a lot of laps. And Kirihara is going to do twice the amount. _He vowed mentally. Not to mention he caused Ann to cry. Ann wasn't even in the team. She should not have to bear such a heavy weight from all this, yet she had. _And why do I feel that I want to pull her into my arms and tell her everything is going to be fine._

He looked at her, trying to think of a response. "Ann…" he finally said, " I know that you're feeling upset. Believe me, I am shocked to hear of such appalling behaviour from my team member. You can be assured that they will be dealt with."

Her eyes widened in surprise. " I… thank you I guess, but I don't want to trouble you. Gods, I shouldn't have told you that in the first place."

" No really." He said more firmly this time. " Such behaviour cannot be tolerated. We have to set an example for our juniors. The person who offended your friends, they deserve to be disciplined."

Then his serious tone disappeared and his smile was back. " Well, it's been nice talking to you Ann but I have to go now… I must admit that I have run away myself."

" Eh?"

" Eheh, yeah, well, I kind of came up here without telling anyone. I better get back before someone discovers I've gone." He grinned.

" Ah… well, I guess it's goodbye then Yukimura-san." She said. Inside, she was disappointed that they had to part ways.

" I guess," Yukimura smiled. _Why am I so reluctant to leave?_ " Well, then, I have to leave now. And I believe you have a brother to talk to."

" Hai!" she allowed herself to smile for the first time that day, feeling oddly lighter, as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. " Thanks for listening to my frustrations Yukimura-san. I hope I didn't bore you."

Ann then made to leave but stopped just as she reached the door. " Oh wait, I want you to have this." She pulled out a violet stalk from the bouquet she was carrying. " I know it's not much but it's all I have at the moment. I hope I can thank you properly some day."

Yukimura took the token and beamed. " It's fine Ann. And you have already repaid me by spending you time with me, unintentional as it was. No one has come to visit me these few days."

" Even so, thanks again, Yukimura-san!"

" Seiichi."

" Eh?"

" Call me Seiichi."

" Alright then… Ja-ne Yuki- Seiichi!"

" Ja."

A good while after Ann had left, Yukimura found himself still looking at the door, his hand gently cradling the purple flower, it's deep colour contrasting which his own fair skin. He looked at the violet and smiled, his thumb softly caressing the fragile petals.

_And I look forward till the time when meet again._


End file.
